RANCHO BERNARDO  The Cleveland National Forest lost about $15,000 in revenues and at least 700 campers were denied sites as a result of the government shutdown earlier this month.

All of the campgrounds and other recreational facilities in the three districts of the Cleveland National Forest — two in San Diego County and a third that straddles the border of Riverside and Orange counties — were closed during the 17-day federal shut down, said Forest Supervisor Will Metz.

That translates roughly into about 700 campers whose reservations were canceled and an unknown number who would have otherwise gone camping on a first come, first served basis.

“It’s not a heavy use period for us,” Metz said of October. “Kids are back in school, summer is over and the activity usually happens over the weekends. So it wasn’t a huge financial hit for us from the standpoint of lost revenues.”

Some of the campground hosts, who were already preparing to close their campgrounds for the winter, took off early when the shutdown was ordered.

On the upside, he said, it’s pretty much impossible to close a forest and officials didn’t really try.

“It’s public land with many points of entry,” he said. People were still able to go on day hikes and hunters could still do their thing in appropriate areas.

Depending on the time of year, the Cleveland National Forest employees between 250 and 300 people. Of those, about 60 were furloughed during the shutdown but will be paid for the time they missed. The rest were kept on because they worked in public health and safety fields.

“Our fire stations and fire crews were all fire ready and fully staffed,” Metz said. The communication facility also remained open and fully staffed, as did the forest’s law enforcement and investigations branch.